Top 5 Patterns From Day 2 at Kentucky Lake
Nearly all the top pros working ledges
Randy Haynes hasn’t won yet, but his leapfrogging from fifth to first on day two of the Rayovac FLW Series Central Division event presented by Evinrude on Kentucky Lake was more than a little reminiscent of his victory in 2014. In that tournament, which took place in late May, Haynes was third after the second round behind Jason Lambert and Brandon Hunter, respectively.
Haynes had 25-1 and 22-10 in the first two rounds of the 2014 derby, then stunned the field with a limit of 27-10 on the last day to win with 75-5. This time, he heads into the championship round with 47-15 – 4 ounces better than his two-day weight last year. You can read about his pattern details here.
Another factor that’s similar to 2014 is the caliber of the competition that Haynes will have to overcome in order to win his second Kentucky Lake title. Here’s a look at his closest rivals.
2. Tom Redington, Royse City, Texas, 46-6
“You know how dogs will ignore a toy lying in the middle of the room, but then, when one of them picks it up, suddenly the others want to get in on the action? Well, that’s how the bass I’m fishing for are behaving,” says Redington, who led the tournament on day one. In other words, to fire up a school, he first catches a couple of undersize fish on a small worm and that seems to rev up the action among the bigger fish.
“I’ll catch a couple of dinks on the worm, then switch to my regular baits,” says Redington. “Literally, it’s the old bait-and-switch routine. But I’ve been getting some quality bites doing that.”
Redington trails Haynes by just over a pound and a half, and he needs a big kicker to make a run Saturday. His heaviest bass Friday was 5 pounds; on day one his 24-pound, 13-ounce stringer was topped by a 6-pounder.
“There aren’t a lot of other fish showing up on my spots,” he says. “The secret’s out and everybody’s fishing ledges, including the ones I’m fishing. Also, the current has slowed to nothing. That’s not going to help Saturday, but we’ll see.”
3. Brandon Hunter, Benton, Ky., 45-9
Hunter had his limit by 6:45 Friday morning and culled one fish at 7:05. After that, he ran to various spots in an attempt to find “new” fish, but boats were swarming over the best ledges by then.
“I catch my fish early, and then it’s a struggle for the rest of the day,” says Hunter. “I have one place where I can catch them and a few postspawn fish are coming in, but I don’t know if it will hold up for Saturday.”
Hunter is fishing a swimbait and crankbait on a bar in about 15 feet of water, and also a ledge inside a large cove.
4. Mark Rose, West Memphis, Ark., 44-11
The Arkansas angler is also running ledges. He’s using Strike King 6XD, 8XD and 10 XD crankbaits, as well as a swimbait.
“I’ve got the whole water column pretty well covered,” says the Walmart pro. “I like what I’m doing and I think it’s going to hold up. The only thing is that I need a couple of big fish to get back in contention.”
Rose culled a half-dozen times Friday. Typically, his day begins by catching a fairly quick limit of small keepers, then upgrading during the rest of the day at other spots.
5. David Fields, Murray, Ky., 44-4
If ever there were a sleeper in the tournament, it’s David Fields. He last fished the Rayovac series in 2012, when he finished 7th in a Central Division event on Kentucky Lake. Fields was the last holdout of the shallow-water anglers fishing this tournament, but Friday afternoon he went out deep for the first time and it paid off with three solid keepers.
“I had to move and then go offshore,” says Fields. “The pressure from other anglers got to me. It’s been pretty much a morning bite, then a long dry spell, than a little flurry of bites in the afternoons. For sure, I’ve been fishing my brains out to get what I have.”
Fields is using an Ignite Baits swimbait in a shad pattern and fishing in about 8 feet of water. He culled four fish Friday.